Doug Van Pelt

My Dad

According to my calculations, in nine months my dad will have been born again for half of his life. This is a proportion where I have an advantage, because I got to this point about 3 years ago. But this is a rare occurance, as my dad sets the bar high. While most dads can throw a ball farther than their sons when they are boys, my dad (who turned 69 yesterday) has given me standards of excellence to follow that are way up there. Here are some of his accomplishments, in no particular order:

He's memorized at least one verse in each book of the Bible. You can give him a book's name, like Hosea, and he will quote you the verse and reference.

He once skipped a flat round-shaped rock 31 times across a Kansas pond (I was there).

He scored perfect grades on several test pilot challenges.

He instilled in his three children the value of hard work.

When hearing that I wanted to learn how to play baseball when he got home from work one day, he immediately got in the car and took me to buy a ball, bat, and glove and then proceeded to show me the game of baseball.

He gave me a good role model and "picture" of what a father is like, so I didn't come to God confused with the concept of "the fatherhood of God" being something too hard to grasp. This is a blessing that I'm real thankful for, because it's easy to imagine how a bad or non-existing role model there could create a "vacuum" of understanding our God as a Father.

While riding in a small boat down the river on my uncle's farm, he spotted a large carp and hit it over the head with the boat's oar as it passed by, killing it with one blow. That was impressive.

He built a portable skateboard ramp and took it to skateboard practice every day during my freshman year of high school, helping found the Edwards Skateboard Association.

He stayed married to my mom for over 50 years now, giving me an incredible gift of modelling life-long marriage.

He prays for me every day. The day after I "came back" to the Lord at the age of 20 through the influence of a close Christian friend, he showed me his prayer journal, where he had been praying for a "Christian friend" for me during that month.

He's shown a low tolerance for mediocrity in all that he does -- especially the work of his hands, like building our back patio or my sister's quansent building over the pool in her old backyard.

When I was 18 I got arrested for marijuana possession and I made my one phone call home around dinner time. I told my mom I was in jail, which we had joked about a few times, and she didn't believe me until I told her the details about the $250 bail: they didn't accept checks, only cash. My grandparents happened to be staying with us at the time, and my dad had to ask his dad to borrow the necessary cash to come bail me out. That took a lot of humility and love for him to do that for me.

He got top grades in his high school and college studies, applying himself diligently to his studies.

In 1969 or 1970 he gave a speech at the Society of Experimental Test Pilots symposium, which featured a public speaking competition. He had to follow Neil Armstrong, who had just walked on the moon. Utilizing slides, film, and audio he gave a "multi-media" presentation that pre-dated today's powerpoint technology, winning the top award over some very tough competition.

There is much to admire about this man. I am blessed to have him as a dad, that's for sure.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at October 30, 2006 09:14 AM